Freight-bracing apparatus



1963 R. c. SCHROEDER ETAL 3,114,338

FREIGHT-BRACING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 11, 1961 Fl G. 3

FlG.1

FIG. 4

INV EN TORS' ROBERT SCF/ROEDE/i DA V10 0 WOOD JOHN E M RAE United StatesPatent 3,114,338 FREEGHT-BRACING APPARATUS Robert C. Schroeder,Dearborn, and David D. Wood, Plymouth, Mich, assignors to SpartonCorporation, Jackson, Mich, a corporation of Ohio Filed Oct. 11, 1961,Ser. No. 144,493 3 Claims. (Cl. 105369) This invention relates tofreight-bracing apparatus, as for example apparatus used in railroadcars and high way vans to brace cargo and prevent shifting of sameduring transit.

A general object of the invention is to provide a freight-bracingapparatus wherein a series of horizontal support rails are positionedalong the opposite side walls of a freight vehicle to removably andadju'stably support certain freight-bracing cross bars, the arrangementincluding a novel latching structure for permitting the cross bars to beinstalled at various positions of vertical and horizontal adjustment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support rail-crossmember head arrangement which can be manufactured at relatively low costand which has desired characteristics of high strength, jam-freeoperation, ability to withstand rugged railroad use, and long servicelife.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the followingdescription and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification wherein like referencecharacters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a railroad car having one embodiment ofthe invention incorporated therein;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view taken along line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings, there is shown therein arailroad type freight vehicle having a bottom wall 10, side walls 12 and14, and a top wall 16. Each of the side walls is provided athorizontally spaced points with a series of vertical pillars 18 which rserve to reinforce the vehicle and support the horizontal railsdesignated by numerals 20-. Referring to FIG. 3, each rail 26 includes afront wall 22, a lower flange or wall 24 and an upper flange or wall 26.As best shown in FIG. 2, the rail is provided with a row of regularlyspaced slots 23, each slot occupying the front portion of top wall 25and the upper portion of front wall 22..

Referring again to FIG. 1, there is shown a horizontal beam-like crossmember 39 having heads 32 at its opposite ends for locking engagement indesired ones of the aforementioned slots 23 in rails 20. By thisarrangement a desired cross member 30 may be located in an optimumposition for bracing the freight, either by direct engagement therewithor by engagement with bulkheads and deckboards (not shown). It will beunderstood that cross members 39 may be utilized in difv and crossmember together.

3,114,338 Patented Dec. 17, 1963 ferent vertical locations by mountingsame between the appropriate ones of rails Ztl. One or both of thelocking heads 32 may be slidably attached to the cross member 35? topermit the heads to be retracted from the rails Ztl during freightremoval operations.

As seen in FIG. 2, head 32 is of one-piece construction and includes aslide portion 34 freely telescoped within a longitudinal bore of crossmember 30, said slide portion having a longitudinal slot 36 whichaccommodates a fixed vertical pin 38 to retain the head The head furtherincludes a body portion 44? having a bottom wall 4?; and two upstandingside walls 44 and 46, said three walls defining a cavity in which ispositioned a latch member designated generally by numeral 4?. Bottomwall a2 is pro vided with a vertical circular opening in which ismounted a headed pivot pin 5% said pin extending upwardly from thebottom wall through the hub portion 52 of latch member 48, thearrangement being such as to mount the latch member for horizontalar-cuate movement around the pin 5t axis. The latch member includes anarm portion 54 which terminates in a hook-like extension 56, saidextension having downwardly-extending portion 57 and a rounded leadingedge 58 which forms a cam surface for a purpose to be described.

Under the invention member 43 serves to lock head 32 onto rail 2t and toprevent undesired movement of member as in the unlatching directionthere is provided a U shaped leaf-type compression spring 6% suitablyengaging the inner face 62 of wall 42 and the opposed face of armportion 54, a rivet 64 being preferably provided to prevent accidentaldisplacement of the spring. It will be understood that spring as biasesmember 48 clockwise around the axis of pin 56 to its FIG. 2 position; alug-like extension 65 formed integrally on member 48 limits theclockwise motion and thereby retains the latch in an operative position.To move the latch counterclockwise member 48 is provided with ahandle-forming thumb portion '66, economically formed as a planarextension of wall 54. The upstanding side walls 44 and 46 serve tosubstantially enclose the latch member and prevent it from beingaccidentally unlatched or damaged by the freight; nevertheless, thelatch is easily accessible for manual actuation when necessary.

Referring to FIG. 3, the leading edges of walls 44 and 46 defineprojections 68 and "70, which may be inserted in any one of the slots 28as desired. During installation of the cross member on rail 2% head 32is advanced horizontally and then lowered to place projections 63 and'70 in the desired slots 28 and latch portion 56 in the interveningslot. During this movement cam surface 58 strikes the rail edgedesignated by numeral 72, whereupon the latch is forced counterclockwisearound the axis of pin 59. When hook portion 56 has passed beyond frontwall 22 spring 69 becomes effective to snap the latch clockwise to itsPEG. 2 position. In this position the hook portion 56 lies beneath aportion of rail upper wall 26 and behind a portion of front wall 22, tothus prevent pull-out movement of the head upwardly and horizontally.Projections 68 and 7% prevent movement of the head longitudinally of therail and downwardly. The head and cross member 30 are thereby retainedin a firmly locked position on the rail. To disengage the head from therail it is necessary to manually employ counterclockwise pressure on theright face of handle as sufi'lcient to move hook portion 56 into theplane of its cooperating slot 28, and to then withdraw the head 32.upwardly and horizontally away from the rail. Lower portion 57 of thehook portion serves as insurance against pull-out of the cross memberwhen in the locked position.

To remove the cross member 30 from load bracing engagement with therails 20, the thumb portion 65 of the latch 48 is engaged and manuallyactuated to rotate the latch 48 counterclockwise to move that part ofthe portion 56 from beneath the top Wall 26 and into a position havingvertical clearance in its selected slot 28. The cross member 30 may nowbe bodily lifted in a vertical direction to remove the head 32 from therail for the reason that the projections 68 and 70, likewise, havevertical clearance on their respective slots 28. In other words, toremove the heads 32 from the rails 20, with the latches 48 manuallyretracted, only relative vertical movement is required. This is anadvantage when only one head 32 is axially slidable in the body of thecross member 39, a practice which is generally standard in this art.When the freight is being unloaded, pressure on the cross member due toshifting of the load in transit may make it very difficult to change theover-all length of the cross member 30 and heads 32 in order to removethe heads 32 from the rails 29. By having the slots 28 extending intothe wall 26 a greater distance than the horizontal extension of theprojections 68 and 70 and the latch 48 into the rails 20, the heads 32(with the latches 48 manually retracted) may be removed as well asinserted from and into the slots 28 solely by relative verticalmovement.

It will be noted that the illustrated construction is relatively simpleand low cost, since head 32 may be formed as a one-piece forging, andthe pin 50 and latch member 48 are relatively straightforward low-costdevices. The entire device will withstand rugged use, since the latchparts are to a large extent shielded by walls 44 and 4-6. It iscontemplated that some changes could be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a horizontal rail having a-vertically extending frontwall and a rear-wardly extending upper wall, a row of regularly spacedslots formed along the length of said rail, each slot occupying a frontportion of the upper wall and an upper portion of the front Wall, afreight-bnacing cross member having a head locatable adjacent the rail,said head having two rigid horizontally spaced projections insertableinto and removable from selected said slots solely by relative verticalmovement to prevent movement of the cross member downwardly andlongitudinally of the rail, and a springbiased latch mounted on the headfor pivotal movement in a horizontal plane, said latch being adapted ina retracted position to extend into one of the rail slots solely byrelative vertical movement, a hook portion defined on said latchextending into said one rail slot a distance less than the distance saidslot occupies in said rail upper wall and projecting behind a portion ofthe rail front wall to prevent horizontal pull-out of the head from therail, and an upwardly facing abutment defined on said hook portionprojecting beneath a portion of the rail upper wall to normally preventupward pullout oi the head from the rail when said latch is releasedfrom its retracted position.

2. In combination, a horizontal rail having a vertically extending frontwall and a rearwardly extending upper wall, a row of regularly spacedslots formed along the length of said rail, each slot occupying a frontportion of the upper wall and an upper portion of the front wall, afreight-bracing cross member having a head locatable adjacent the rail,said head having two rigid horizontally spaced projections insertableinto and removable from selected said slots solely by relative verticalmovement to prevent movement of the cross member downwardly andlongitudinally of the rail, and a spring-biased latch mounted on thehead for pivotal movement in a horizontal plane, said latch having anarm portion extending away from the cross member so as to be insertablein one of the slots simultaneously with the entrance of said projectionsin said selected slots, a hook portion extending from said arm portionof such length that said arm and hook portions extend into theassociated slot a distance less than the distance said slot occupies insaid rail upper wall, said hook portion extending below said arm portionto normally lie behind the rail front wall to prevent horizontalpull-out of the head, an upwardly facing abutment defined on said hookportion adapted to normally project beneath a portion of the rail upperwall to prevent upward pull-out of the head from the rail, and athumb-actuable element extending upwardly from the arm portion to movethe latch about its pivot.

3. In combination, a horizontal rail having an upper wall and a frontwall, a row of slots extending along said rail,'each slot occupying afront portion of the upper wall and an upper portion of the front wall,a freightbracing cross member normally positionable in a horizontallocation extending right angularly to the rail, and having arail-engaging head connected therewith, said head having a bottom walland two upstanding side walls defining a central upwardly open cavity,horizontal projections extending from respective ones of said side wallsto enter into selected said slots in the rail solely by relativevertical movement to prevent movement of the head downwardly orlongitudinally of the rail, a vertical pivot carried on the bottom wallin the aforementioned cavity, a latch member having a hub connected withsaid pivot to mount the latch member for arcuate movement in ahorizontal plane, said latch member also having a wall portion extendingfrom the hub in the direction of the rail to normally enter a third oneof said rail slots, said wall portion extending into said third one ofsaid rail slots a distance less than the distance said slot occupies insaid rail upper wall, a hook portion defined on the free end of saidwall portion adapted to take a position behind a portion of the frontwall to prevent the head from moving horizontally away from the rail,and an upwardly facing abutment defined upon said hook portion adaptedto take a position beneath portion of therail upper wall to prevent thehead from moving upwardly away from the rail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,834,304 Chapman et a1 May 13, 1958 2,887,963 Dunlap May 26, 19592,900,925 Dunlap Aug. 25, 1959 2,930,331 Stough Mar. 29, 1960

1. IN COMBINATION, A HORIZONTAL RAIL HAVING A VERTICALLY EXTENDING FRONTWALL AND A REARWARDLY EXTENDING UPPER WALL, A ROW OF REGULARLY SPACEDSLOTS FORMED ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID RAIL, EACH SLOT OCCUPYING A FRONTPORTION OF THE UPPER WALL AND AN UPPER PORTION OF THE FRONT WALL, AFREIGHT-BRACING CROSS MEMBER HAVING A HEAD LOCATABLE ADJACENT THE RAIL,SAID HEAD HAVING TWO RIGID HORIZONTALLY SPACED PROJECTIONS INSERTABLEINTO AND REMOVABLE FROM SELECTED SAID SLOTS SOLELY BY RELATIVE VERTICALMOVEMENT TO PREVENT MOVEMENT OF THE CROSS MEMBER DOWNWARDLY ANDLONGITUDINALLY OF THE RAIL, AND A SPRINGBIASED LATCH MOUNTED ON THE HEADFOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE, SAID LATCH BEING ADAPTED INA